'Its internal economic rot and corrupt political elite have made the resurgent supremacy of the military establishment more invincible,' says Sunil Sethi.
'From envy, heartburn and broken hearts to broken marriages, much damage has been done by unintended revelations in the social media. Suspicious partners bring out hidden relationships, which may never have come to light and hell breaks lose in many lives,' warns T P Sreenivasan.
Flooding this monsoon underscores the need to buy home insurance, says Tarun Mathur.
While winning four major finals, India have finished on the losing side in the finals on four occasions.
The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
Some stunning moments of the week that was
We present an excerpt from Kishore Kumar: Method In Madness by Derek Bose.
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
Trump had come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats for his muted response to the violence unleashed by white supremacists during a rally in Charlottesville.
Violence surged in Assam on Wednesday as the toll in the massacre of tribals by Bodo militants rose to 65 including 21 women and 18 children, sparking a retaliation in which Bodo homes and a police station were attacked leaving three persons dead allegedly in police firing.
Australia made a meal of it but successfully chased down 128 for a four-wicket victory and an unassailable 2-0 series lead after dismissing India for 224 on the fourth day of the second Test.
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
'The Congress has no moral right to throw mud at others. The Gandhis talking of corruption sounds worse than the devil quoting scripture.'
EyeEm, a global community and marketplace for photography and video, is in the middle of its fourth and largest photography competition yet.
The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill and The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill passed amid din.
The diplomatic row between the United States and India over the arrest of an Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was mishandled by both countries and it is high time to move forward and find a diplomatic resolution, two former American diplomats have said.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
It turns out that there is serious money in funny business these days!
"We are not afraid. An act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy, but today we meet as normal," May said.
Haaziq Kazi, disturbed by the damage we have done to marine life, has designed a solution to save the oceans.
For all the controversy, the concept of prominent First Children is not novel in democracies. So why is Donald Trump's daughter different and discomfiting?
It's been 100 years since Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the government, and its legacy remains visible even today in the buildings and monuments scattered throughout St Petersburg.
Shiv Kapur failed to nail any of the birdie putts that came his way but the Indian golfer still managed to turn in an even par 72 that saw him finish tied 16th at the US$ 7 million CIMB Classic, an event jointly sanctioned by Asian and PGA Tours, in Kuala Lumpur.
It was in 1989, 39 years after the setting up of the Supreme Court in 1950, that Justice M Fathima Beevi was appointed. Meet the brilliant legal minds who have shattered the glass ceiling since then.
Dinesh Raheja salutes the legend's versatility in her heyday.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
The Cuban government has announced nine days of mourning and has set Castro's funeral for December 4.
The Bangladesh government on Sunday claimed the attackers who slaughtered 20 hostages inside a cafe in Dhaka in the country's worst terror attack were members of "homegrown" Islamist terrorist outfits and not Islamic State of Syria and Iraq militants.
Over the last four days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the heads of over 50 African nations, some of whom have extremely unsavoury reputations. Meet the 10 most controversial leaders who visited Delhi this week.
Trupti Desai's fight earned women the right to enter the inner sanctums of the Shani Shingnapur Temple, the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple and the Haji Ali Dargah. Her next target is Sabarimala in Kerala. Aditi Phadnis reports.
Proceedings in Parliament were washed out for the second consecutive working on Tuesday as Opposition members created pandemonium on a host of issues including JPC report on 2G, Telangana, price rise and death of children in relief camps for Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) riot victims.
'Aggravated fears about the fate of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution have reopened old wounds and laid bare the widening emotional distance between Srinagar and New Delhi,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 302 films in 365 days on airplanes, on Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google, Hulu, DVDs and even on YouTube.
Saudi club Al-Hilal have furiously demanded a formal probe into the appointment of the referees for the Asian Champions League final, which they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Australia's Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend.
'Modi's political economy is more inspired by Indira Gandhi than Vajpayee.' 'She so wanted an Opposition-mukt Bharat.' 'Sounds familiar?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Heavily-armed gunmen shouting Islamist slogans stormed the Charlie Hebdo (a satirical newspaper) office in Paris on Wednesday and shot dead 12 people including its editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb.
Damu Nagar -- a shanty colony built around a hillock in Mumbai's northern suburb of Kandivali, abutting the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, was engulfed in an inferno Monday, December 7, that left more than 2,000 homes gutted and thousands homeless. Residents displayed exemplary courage, camaraderie and chutzpah as they grappled with ways and means to overcome their personal catastrophes when Rediff.com visited them.
'We are completely engaged in fighting poverty; alas, our neighbour Pakistan seems only engaged in fighting us.'
A close-up of a leopard, little owlets hiding inside a pipe and a gorilla mother mourning the loss of her baby are just a few of animals featured in the photos that have won this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, providing a global platform that showcases the natural world's most astonishing sights.
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